Authorities work at the construction site during the recovery operation on Sunday in Stanley, N.C. / WSOC-TV via AP

by Rachel Huggins, USA TODAY

by Rachel Huggins, USA TODAY

Emergency crews early Monday recovered the bodies of two young children that were buried under a collapsing wall of dirt in a 24-foot-deep hole at a home construction site in rural North Carolina.

Lincoln County crews working through the night located the bodies of cousins 6-year-old Chloe Jade Arwood and 7-year-old James Levi Caldwell, shortly before daybreak, but moved cautiously to remove them because of the danger of a new cave-in.

Sheriff David Carpenter said neighbors reported that Chloe's father, Jordan Arwood, was excavating the two-story pit to build some sort of a protective bunker.

The children were at the bottom of the pit retrieving a child-sized pickaxe when the walls fell in on them, Carpenter said. The pit was 20 feet by 20 feet with a sloped entrance leading down to the 24-foot bottom.

Neighbor Bradley Jones told The Associated Press that the children often played in the pit when Arwood was working there. Jones, who said he works in construction, said there was no structure to support the pit's tall dirt walls and that he questioned the man about the hole's depth. Authorities didn't know of any permits that had been issued for the work or plans detailing the project.

Arwood's desperate voice is heard on a 911 recording released by the Lincoln County communications center when the children's bodies were recovered.

"Please hurry ... My children are buried under tons of dirt ... They're buried under tons of clay ... It fell on top of them," he said sobbing.

When rescue crews arrived, neighbors stood by in disbelief as dozens of fire trucks emergency workers spent hours trying to get to the children.

"We worked as if they were alive," Burleson told The Charlotte Observer Sunday evening.

Some 65 emergency personnel from several places, including nearby Charlotte, responded to the scene. Crews placed a safety barrier around the pit and used shovels and climbing gear to try and reach the children, but to no avail.

"Times like these are very difficult. It's devastating for the family and each and every responder."